Ganesh Chaturthi is approaching and everyone is preparing for it. The shopping lists are about new dresses, sweets, gifts, pandals and specially Ganesha idols.

It has been noticed over a period of time that people become highly vigilant during festivals over environment protection, noise pollution, water saving and its over consumption. For example, the Hussain Sagar lake which is a popular tourist place of Hyderabad but that lake is suffering with heavy pollution and the percentage of pollution does not vary much in normal days as compared to visarjan days.  (Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/in-other-news/120716/hyderabad-ganesh-panel-deflects-blame-of-polluting-hussainsagar-lake.html)

We are the ones who need to understand that simply stopping or raising our voice at certain occasions will not bring the change. It has to be a continuous process rather than getting it started and then leaving it mid-way. As Mahatma Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world”. It is easy to talk about what you want to see in world but it takes courage and determination to be the change. I often question whether altruism actually exists? Yes it does exist! It is the moment one feels the pain of others at the first instance. You must have experienced it many times.  But it is really important to notice whether it is Effective Altruism or not.

We have many legendary examples that have made it possible. These are the ones who have contributed their effort, energy and determination to bring change in the society. We also have many NGOs running for social benefits, environmental hazards, women rights protection and child abuse.

Kalpana Ramesh is one of the examples to be admired. She is a Hyderabad based interior architect who has felt the pain of the polluted lakes of the city which are dying. She along with her team are working day and night to save the lakes of Hyderabad. “Live the Lakes” is an initiative from SAHE (Society for Advancement of Human Endeavor) which has been started to save the lakes of Hyderabad. The team and other volunteers are working upon three lakes – Kudikunta (beyond Chirec school, Kondapur) Gopi Cheruvu (behind Doyens, Lingampally), and Regula Kunta (at Deeptisri nagar, near Alwynn X roads, Miyapur).

Her recent initiative for the Ganesh Chaturthi is about ‘Plant Ganesha’. Her team and many other volunteers came up with the idea of clay Ganesha i.e. plant a Ganesha at your home. For “Plant A Ganesha” please watch https://youtu.be/aZoc1_4gH84 (#LivetheLakes #SAHE #Socialimpact #savethewaterbodies)

We have many other examples surrounding us but the biggest example is within us. We can be the change we want to gift to our future. Let us be together. Let us all join our hands heart and spirit to be together.  ‘Hum badlenge, yug badlega’ is the ideology of one the famous Socio Spiritual Movement that says a lot in itself i.e. the change should begin from ‘Self’

Just answer one question to yourself whenever you do anything “Are we doing what is right? Is it justifiable to my soul?” The moment you get the answer you will be in the right direction.

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Community Engagement is the process of building relationships with community members who will work side-by-side with you as an ongoing partner, in any and every way imaginable, building an army of support for your mission, with the end goal of making the community a better place to live.

Why Does Community Engagement Matter?

One may wonder about the need for community engagement. Being an active part in making your community a better place, does always make you feel good. Apart from that, let us know why Community Engagement matters.

• The participants get to learn more about the particular cause in-depth. This can improve their knowledge and skills in problem solving.
• The diversity of the group can empower and integrate individuals, making them realise they have more in common then they thought, despite the differences in their backgrounds.
• It creates local networks of community members. The stronger the community, the more likely it is to get successful results.
• Regular on-going discussions makes it easy to talk about concerns and resolving them.
• Working together improves communication and understanding, increases trust among members.
• Drawing on the knowledge from a diverse group will result in the solutions that are more practical and effective.
• The strong commitment of the group to work towards the intended goals elicits wide acceptance of the solutions.

How SAHE is promoting Community Engagement?

Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour (SAHE), a not-for-profit organisation, aims to build a highly sensitised, engaged community that creates a positive social impact, through integrity and fairness. It empowers people to be the change agents in their communities.

SAHE believes in driving social impact through community engagement. SAHE has brought together like-minded individuals from a variety of backgrounds to work together on the pressing issues, through TEDxHyderabad Salon events. The salons on ‘Civic Responsibility’ and ‘Healthcare’ have resulted in ambitious social projects such as ‘Live the Lakes’, ‘Save 10KBores’ and ‘100KFirstResponse’ all of which are being driven by our community champions.

Our salon event on civic responsibility resulted in two campaigns namely ‘Save10KBores’ and ‘Live the Lakes’.

The ‘Save10KBores’ campaign was started with the intent of recharging deep aquifers through rainwater to revive 10,000 defunct or dried borewells in the city through rainwater harvesting. This is being done in partnerships with resident associations and communities.

Live the Lakes aims to revive the surface waterbodies in the city; and to connect lakes with communities. The NGO – Community – Government model that is being adapted in here, exemplifies Community Engagement.

Our healthcare salon resulted in the The ‘100KFirstResponse’ and is focused on training as many people as possible on becoming first responders, for a medical or accidental emergency, before an ambulance arrives. More than 2000 people have been trained to become first responders and include students, bus drivers, cab drivers and security guards

“Community Engagement plays a crucial role in encouraging and empowering individuals to come and work together to make their society, a better place to live in.”

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